Ford Motor Co.'s commitment to pay for home electric vehicle chargers and their installation didn't prevent the automaker from reporting an 8.3% decrease in U.S. electric vehicles sales in October compared to a year ago, its first year-over-year decline since January.

The Dearborn automaker, starting Oct. 1, said buyers through the rest of the year of its new F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E models could get a Ford Charge Station Pro Level 2 charger and its standard installation complimentary, or otherwise get $2,000 off the cost of the vehicle. Of retail customers in the first month of the program, 80% have opted for one of those two options, said Ken Williams, director of charging and energy services customers experience for Ford's Model e EV division. He declined to specify what the split looks like. The other 20% opted for 0% financing for 72 months.

"This is a great program for our customers that's meeting that need that they have for that unknown on installation and that unknown on what charging is," Williams said. "When people are hearing about the offer, they are coming in and asking for it, so it is very clear that they want something like this, and they want to use it."

Ford Motor Co.'s commitment to pay for home electric vehicle chargers and their installation didn't prevent the automaker from reporting an 8.3% decrease in U.S. electric vehicles sales in October compared to a year ago, its first year-over-year decline since January.

The Dearborn automaker, starting Oct. 1, said buyers through the rest of the year of its new F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E models could get a Ford Charge Station Pro Level 2 charger and its standard installation complimentary, or otherwise get $2,000 off the cost of the vehicle. Of retail customers in the first month of the program, 80% have opted for one of those two options, said Ken Williams, director of charging and energy services customers experience for Ford's Model e EV division. He declined to specify what the split looks like. The other 20% opted for 0% financing for 72 months.

"This is a great program for our customers that's meeting that need that they have for that unknown on installation and that unknown on what charging is," Williams said. "When people are hearing about the offer, they are coming in and asking for it, so it is very clear that they want something like this, and they want to use it."

The road to increasing EV adoption is bumpy. Penetration is up, but rates aren't where the industry had expected, as affordability, range anxiety, speed of charging and polarizing politics create consumer reluctance. The Ford campaign, executives said, is meant to reduce barriers of entry to an EV. It emphasizes the ability to plug in an EV at home and be fully charged the next morning without having to stop to fill up on gasoline — a convenience many potential buyers, they said, don't realize.

"Every manufacturer is going to have to come up with some additional incentives" for EVs, said Erin Keating, executive analyst for market intelligence firm Cox Automotive Inc. "Right now, there's not a ton differentiating things in the market, whether there are actual differentiations in EVs or not. Customers continue to see one homologous type of vehicle. They need something to sweeten the deal. Whether it's a charger, installation, or some combination, they will feel like table stakes."

As a result, automakers have to think about how much allowance they are willing to spend per vehicle to persuade, she said. Ford hasn't provided a number for the total value of the power promise fourth-quarter campaign. The charger included is the Ford Charge Station Pro, which retails for $1,310. Installation can cost several hundred dollars more. Williams said 78% of the installations so far completed are "standard." Customers may need to cover the difference for additional upgrades like a new electrical panel or other atypical circumstances.

Joel Hutto, 62, of Dripping Springs, Texas, outside Austin, has been wanting to get a Lightning since he first heard about it. Interested in a more environmentally clean vehicle, the title examiner was excited about an EV to accommodate his 6-foot-3 stature. After waiting years for the vehicle launch and having used savings to make home improvements, he passed on the opportunity to use his $50 reservation.

But as he thinks about retiring in the coming years, Ford's offers made it possible finally to get the truck on Wednesday. He got 0% financing for 60 months on the approximately $68,000 pickup and opted for the charger and its installation, which is scheduled to happen Thursday. Hutto said he just has to pay $550 to get an additional subpanel.

"It's everything I've been looking for," Hutto said about his new truck, emphasizing the quiet, smooth drive and the spaciousness to haul his woodwork signs and pet supplies to weekend markets to sell. "I knew I needed a home charging place anyway. If they are going to give me the equipment, and at that point, if they are going to install it, that's great. I am going to do it."

He originally was worried about the length of time it would take to get the charger installed, as he didn't want to drive the vehicle until he could charge reliably at home. Now that he is scheduled, he said he's comfortable driving it even to a market 17 miles away: "Yeah, I can run around the block."

California-based Qmerit is Ford's partner for scheduling the installations. It owns or partners with companies that have 24,000 electricians to perform the work. A quote is provided based on a photo of a customer's home electric panel using artificial intelligence technology, and permits are pulled for the installation. The time it takes between a customer connecting with Qmerit and the completion of an installation on average is 25 days. Qmerit has completed around half a million installations in the past seven years.

"It is a demonstrable increase in our activity," Oliver Phillips, chief operating officer, told The Detroit News about programs offered by automakers similar to the power promise, noting it can be double-digit percentage increases and boost activity in states that haven't adopted California's stricter emissions requirements. "And then for the consumers, it's really, really helpful for them, because if they're on the fence about home charging, it just sort of tips them over the edge."

Ford CEO Jim Farley, on an earnings call last week, said the "Ford Power Promise" increased interest online, and Chief Financial Officer John Lawler said there's been a good take rate by dealers.

"It's addressing one of the key issues that our consumers have regarding EVs," Lawler said. "Our dealers can explain a person's driving cycle and that with a home charger, they'll be able to charge at home. And 95% of the time, they won't have to stop to charge outside of their home. It's very positive for them. It's going really well, as we expected it to."

Lightning sales decline

Overall, Ford's October U.S. sales were up 15% from a year ago when the 41-day United Auto Workers strike affected production. But there was a nearly 50% decrease in sales of the all-electric F-150 Lightning truck that brought down the overall EV figure for the month. Deliveries of the Mustang Mach-E SUV and E-Transit commercial van, however, were both higher than a year ago, up 21% and 181%, respectively.

"Through October, Mustang Mach-E sales totaled 38,939 — up 23.2% for the year. This represents a record sales year for Mustang Mach-E and makes it America’s No. 2 best-selling EV brand behind Tesla," Ford spokesperson Marty Günsberg said in an email. "F-150 Lightning sales totaled a record 24,670 trucks through October of this year — up 54.5% this year."

General Motors Co., which offered nine EV nameplates split across three brands in the third quarter, surpassed Ford in U.S. EV sales in that July-through-September period. The Detroit automaker doesn't report monthly sales.

The Lightning, one of the first electric trucks to the market, has faced increasing competition: The Tesla Cybertruck has surpassed it in sales. Plus, the Rivian R1T, Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV are available. Hurricanes and uncertainty created by the presidential election may have affected some sales in October, Keating said, but it's tax credits and incentives that are pushing the EVs.

"Across the industry, so many big discounts (are) coming straight off the top of the vehicle," Keating said. "Paying for a charger and installation is an alternative, but there's still too much competition."

Discounts as a percentage of average transaction price on the Lightning were under the industry average of July, according to the most recent figures from Cox on model incentives. Days of supply on dealer lots for Ford EVs at the end of September were above the norm at 130 days.

Ford has increased its incentive offerings, including a month-long offer of up to $1,500 per vehicle for dealers who take Lightnings from new regional electric vehicle distribution centers, according to a memo.

But the automaker already loses money on the trucks. Ford last week said starting later this month into 2025, it's idling the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, where the truck is built, to preserve sales growth and profitability. The automaker is projecting its Model e EV division will lose $5 billion this year.

Still, incentives like the power promise get customers' attention, said Ivan Drury, director of insights at auto information website Edmunds.com Inc.: "Will it convince someone to go from an ICE to EV? It’s super-dependent on what your current situation is. At a minimum, it answers the question of what I am going to do about charging."

For customers who already have bought a Ford EV, though, it can leave a bad taste. Andrew Irizarry, 34, of San Diego, California, bought his Lightning in 2022 for more than $88,000. He paid $7,000 for home integration and $4,000 for an inverter that included a charger and installation to take advantage of home-to-vehicle energy storage opportunities in the event of a power outage.

He is able to charge his vehicle fine, but the charger itself hasn't been able to connect by Bluetooth or WiFi to communicate with phone apps or the vehicle itself. Multiple communications with Ford EV specialists haven't found a solution over the past nearly two years.

"If they installed my charger for me, maybe they would be more excited to fix it for me," Irizarry said. "The lack of support for early adopters, that part is killing me."

Moving the needle

Tim Hovik, owner of San Tan Ford in Gilbert, Arizona, outside Phoenix, was the first dealer to pilot the power promise promotion. It contributed to a doubling of the percentage that EVs represented of total monthly sales in August — to 20% from 10% with 137 EVs sold.

"It's like anything else, there are just questions with something that's new and so when we were able to include being able to provide a charger at time of purchase and being able to set up installation at their house," Hovik said, "it took down some barriers. People were less apprehensive. Very few people wake up and their fuel tank is 100%."

David Wilson, the chairman of the Ford National Dealer Council, knows the pain of figuring out the logistics. When his wife bought a Mustang Mach-E, Ford chargers were on back order. They found an alternative and scheduled it for installation.

"It's is one of the biggest hurdles — customers trying to figure out what to do," said Wilson, who is the chairman of the Preston Automotive Group with dealerships in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. "It's not to say it was hard, but it was a pain. It was different."

Last week, he was expecting the business to close out the month with 35 EV sales, up from below 20 typically. That means about half of the customers who come to one of his Ford showrooms looking to buy an internal combustion engine vehicle leave in an EV, he said.

"Buying a car is a major decision for anybody," Wilson said. "Buying a car with a different powertrain, it is something else. The way Ford has kicked this off, it takes one of the major hurdles off their plate. The question becomes, 'Does it fit my driving needs?' after that. They don't travel as much as they think they do."

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